1. Technical Field
This invention relates to management of a data center. More specifically, the invention relates to assessing the operating parameters of a data center, and autonomic selection and implementation of one or more policies for management of the data center.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is recognized that computer data centers are managed according to guidelines as established and managed by a system administrator. The need to manage data centers extends beyond the administration of individual software environments, as such data centers frequently integrate several heterogeneous environments into corporate-wide computing systems.
An autonomic computing system is a tool that enables the data center to manage itself with objectives established by the system administrator. The essence of autonomic computing is self-management, with the intent to free system administrators from details of system operation and maintenance. In general, autonomic systems configure themselves automatically in accordance with high-level policies representing objectives.
In an autonomic computing system, autonomic elements manage their internal behavior and their relationships with other autonomic elements in accordance with policies that administrators or others elements have established. An autonomic element will typically consist of one or more managed elements coupled with a single autonomic manager that controls and represents them. In one embodiment, the managed element may be in the form of a product in a non-autonomic system, although it can be adapted to be controlled and managed by the autonomic manager. More specifically, the managed element may be a hardware resource, such as storage, a processor, a printer, a software resource, etc. The autonomic manager distinguishes the autonomic element from its non-autonomic counter-part. By monitoring the managed element and its external environment, and constructing and executing plans based on an analysis of this information, the autonomic manager will relieve system administrators of the responsibility of directly managing the managed element(s).
However, there are limitations associated with the prior art tools for managing data centers. More specifically, the prior art is limited to rules that are configured for specific data centers. Based upon this limitation, the rules need to be updated by a system administrator for different data centers based upon the tools available at the specific data center. Accordingly, there is a need for a self-adapting policy management system for a data center that further reduces the role of the system administrator.